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USPTO Invalidates One of Apple's iPhone Design Patents in Apple vs. Samsung Lawsuit

JPSaltzman said:
At this point, does this really even matter?
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If anything, the IBM/Novell vs. SCO case from the early 2000s should tell you that any victory, no matter how good, bad, or pyrrhic matters. It gives the winning party resolve to continue their fight, despite if the odds are against them... even if it means taking their own company down with the ship to prove that they are right.

BL.
 
The patent system is just plain broken. Are they after the actual money or is it just publicity now?
 
JPSaltzman said:
At this point, does this really even matter?
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Yeah, tells the little players that the big players can while them out just by virtue of legal costs. Cause an actual resolution does not see high on the priority. Let's wait for the next appeal ....and the next ...next....next...
 
Apple is doomed. Losing patent lawsuits, Apple Watch, Apple Pay, Apple Music, Maps, Steve Baller retiring, etc. Start selling your Apple stock now before it hits the low $70s this time next year.
 
wbeasley said:
or spent tens of millions to win hundreds of millions AND to prove a point. priceless when you get the world to see that blatant copying is not flattery.
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Well, proving their point is secondary. More importantly, by winning the suit (even if a pyrrhic victory), it will discourage future copycats from behaving like Samsung. I said discourage, since it certainly won't prevent all future imitators (especially those from China).
 
Rafterman said:
Gotta love people who think, when something doesn't go the way they think it should, its obviously a conspiracy.
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Tell me about it. bearing in mind that Apple are always in teh news for tax dodging. Whilst not saying that they are carrying out illegal activities. If it were Samsung, you’d hear, ’There’s no smoke without fire’.
 
Marrakas said:
yet apple continues to steal ideas and patent them as their own. but it's ok for 'great artists' to steal, right?
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Whilst I’m not suggesting that what you say has or has not any truth in it, it would help if you’d give some examples.
 
Yojimbo007 said:
The whole freaking system is brocken.....
Why did they even issue the patent to start with?
Any idiot can see that samdung copied iphones design.. All one has to do is look at samdung phones before iPhone and after..
All this hair splitting is only making the lawyers involved richer while at the same time destroying confidence in the system..
Good luck US of A...for paving the path for Anarchy ...
DOJ and now USPTO ... ...and shenanigans ...
It a shame !
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Exactly, you even had internal Samsung documentation showing what elements of the iPhone they're looking to copy. And this is Samsung; in practically every industry they've ripped off the competition with their own products. In photography (Kodak), in TVs (SHARP), heck even with vacuum cleaners (Dyson).

Historically they just tie down these with so much red tape that by the time they have to pay, the other company has spent so much time, effort and money, that it's a hollow victory. And of course Samsung are still selling their products while this is going on, so they've made the profit and dominated the market.
 
peterdevries said:
I hope this is the famous "rounded corners" patent, because that would finally put many discussions about the ridiculousness of that patent to rest.
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Unfortunately not. This is the front facia design patent, wouldn't be surprised if rounded corners came unto it though. What I think though is how much tax payers money was spent for this trial? Must have been some right?
Anyway, Apple got what they deserved, one of their ridiculous patents void. Let's hope the 'rectangle with rounded coroner's follows suite very soon.
 
H2SO4 said:
Whilst I’m not suggesting that what you say has or has not any truth in it, it would help if you’d give some examples.
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Here's an example of the patented music search system they stole from Creative several years ago, Creative took them to court and won, Apple of course attempted to counter sue as it always does but didn't win.

http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-settles-with-creative-for-100-million-1/

Or how about the small fact they are still stealing Ericsson's technology in every single iOS device with a cellular radio and not paying them for it, everyone else in the industry pays them but not Apple, no its tactic is to use their essential designs to make a phone a phone and not pay the inventor to try and get it cheaper then everyone else.
Apple has until December to pay them though, otherwise court cases raised by Ericsson in four different country's go ahead.
And lets not forget the Swiss Railway clock face design they stole for iOS, they paid for the rights to use the trademarked design after meeting with the rights owners, but not before they stuck it into iOS.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-10/15/apple-royalties-swiss-clock
 
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Yojimbo007 said:
The whole freaking system is brocken.....
Why did they even issue the patent to start with?
Any idiot can see that samdung copied iphones design.. All one has to do is look at samdung phones before iPhone and after..
All this hair splitting is only making the lawyers involved richer while at the same time destroying confidence in the system..
Good luck US of A...for paving the path for Anarchy ...
DOJ and now USPTO ... ...and shenanigans ...
It a shame !
Click to expand...

Out of interest.

Say you paint a picture and it sells.
I see the picture sells well so I paint my own very similar to yours to get some sales myself, you take offence and then take me to court to stop me painting. Ok, fair enough...
Then along come 100 other painters and copy your painting also.
Is it not wrong of you to ignore these other 100 and still focus on me.
Either go after them also, or drop your objection to me.
 
peterdevries said:
I hope this is the famous "rounded corners" patent, because that would finally put many discussions about the ridiculousness of that patent to rest.
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Well that really depends if you are designer or not. A friend of mine designed those Kitchen Scissors with the different colour soft Inserts where your fingers go, it won a few awards and every single Hardware company just went and stole it.

Sites like this show who shocking design piracy is.
http://youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com/blog3/

Whilst the Rounded rectangle seems stupid it's VERY specific. Samsung could have used any other radius for their devices or Icons. They didn't. The flat out copied it.

How much of a design can be protected?
 
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prowlmedia said:
Well that really depends if you are designer or not. A friend of mine designed those Kitchen Scissors with the different colour soft Inserts where your fingers go, it won a few awards and every single Hardware company just went and stole it.

Sites like this show who shocking design piracy is.
http://youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com/blog3/

Whilst the Rounded rectangle seems stupid it's VERY specific. Samsung could have used any other radius for their devices or Icons. They didn't. The flat out copied it.

How much of a design can be protected?
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My comment was more an expression of exhaustion about the rounded corners discussion itself than about the logic or content of design patents. These discussions here invariably end up with someone posting a picture of Samsung and Apple product comparisons. After that someone will post a picture of Braun products from the 60s and so on.
 
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